Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University Places in All Four of Top Rankings Publications

Full-Time Program Moves Up to 34th in U.S. News Media Group’s 2012 Ranking of Best Graduate Schools

Rice MBA for Professionals Jumps from 24th Place to 21st

Houston, Texas – March 15, 2011 – For the first time in school history, the Jones School’s Full-Time MBA program has placed in all four of the primary publications that rank business graduate programs. The school has entered into top ranked positions in BusinessWeek, the Economist, Financial Times, and US News & World Report. The average JGSB Full-Time MBA ranking across the big four is 27th which ranks 23rd overall of schools that have shown up in all four rankings.

The Jones School earned the 34th spot among Full-Time MBA programs and 21st among Part-Time programs in the 2012 edition of Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News Media Group.

The 2012 Best Graduate Schools includes essential, detailed statistical information on all 437 MBA programs accredited by AACSB International. In addition to featuring new rankings for business programs, the publication also ranks over 1200 graduate schools nationwide including law, education, engineering, and medicine.

“It is exciting to see the Jones School’s reputation and quality recognized through escalated rankings, particularly in terms of improved salaries for our graduates, increased admissions standards, and quality of our entrepreneurship program. We are also proud of our recent recognition in other publications for our outstanding faculty, teaching, curriculum, and research,” stated Dean Bill Glick.

The Jones School moved from the 29th position to 21st in salary and bonus for 2010 graduates 3 months post graduation. For the first time, the school was ranked in the entrepreneurship category at 14th.

The business programs were surveyed in fall 2010 and early 2011. Out of 437 schools, 398 responded, 142 of which provided the data needed to calculate full-time MBA rankings based on a weighted average of the indicators. Those indicators included peer assessment, recruiter assessment, placement success, mean starting salary and bonus, employment rates for full-time graduates, mean GMAT scores, mean undergraduate GPA, and acceptance rate. For more detailed information on the methodology and data research, visit www.usnews.com/gradmeth.

The Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University is one of the world’s leading business schools. Named in honor of the late Jesse H. Jones, a prominent Houston business and civic leader, the Jones School is distinguished by its strong foundation in accounting, finance, marketing, and management with areas of excellence in energy, entrepreneurship, and health care. Degreed programs include the Rice MBA, MBA for Executives, and MBA for Professionals as well as joint MBA degrees in medicine and mechanical engineering. A PhD in Business attracts candidates aspiring to become faculty members at business schools in prestigious research universities internationally. The Jones Graduate School also provides an undergraduate business minor and a full schedule of non-credit executive education and customized courses for business and industry.

The 2012 Best Graduate Schools is the first rankings package to be launched on the newly designed U.S. News Education site. The redesigned site offers increased usability, interactive search tools, and other resources including the Graduate School Compass which provides school information and comparison tools.